THE Bullers Arms pub at Landrake is one of those places which people drive past every day and never really realise that it's there.

Positioned off the main road, the premises date from the 1700s although the coachhouse was positioned across the road. The building became a pub in the 1800s.

Leroy Lander and Laura Ashenford have been partners for two-and-a-half years and are expecting their first child soon. Their dog Josh is popular with many who visit the pub. They took over as managers of the pub for The Unique Pub Company at the end of May.

They have started refurbishing the building gradually. The small restaurant has been "spruced up" and a new bar menu, restaurant menu and takeaway menu have been introduced. A picnic menu will be formed for next year providing people with the opportunity to order a picnic basket for a family, with all the trimings of sandwiches, crisps, drinks or a basket for the "courting couple" which would include the traditional champagne and strawberries.

The kitchen has been refurbished and there is the possibility of the public bar being enlarged eventually.

The restaurant, lit only by candles in the evening and soft lighting hidden behind plants in each corner of the room, specialises in fish, vegetarian and quality meat dishes with the special personal touch of dishes cooked to customers' liking.

The chef's board covers in-season meat and vegetables and will also include the suppliers of the meats and fish once local, regular suppliers have been established.

The Sunday lunches at the pub are popular. The size of the meals are either standard or for a "small" appetite.

Laura said: "We would like to do more functions, especially small wedding receptions. Any parties that are held here are done with enthusiasm and we always deck the place out in balloons and streamers."

A large beer garden is being constructed and there is a possibility of beer festivals being held there.

Leroy said: "I fell in love with the Westcountry when I was at Brixham boarding school and now I've come back after working in catering for over 20 years."

Laura commented: "This is his dream come true, running a rural cuontry pub in the Westcountry."

Laura's father is Cornish and her family live in Cornwall. She started a career in London as an interior designer and also worked in marketing.

Laura said: "This is what I've always wanted to do, come back to Cornwall. It's like coming home."

They employ six members of staff. However, when they first started out at The Bulllers Arms it was just the two of them, which proved to be challenging when a stag night was held in early June. They were asked to provide a reception for the next day as the wedding had been as a surprise for the groom, who had only been told about it that evening!

Leroy and Laura had 12 hours to organise suppliers of food, decorations, staff and a DJ for the occasion, which they did with style.

Laura joked: "We had something of a baptism by fire but we're getting there!"

The pub was blessed by the Rev Michael Griffiths from St Michael's Church, Landrake, in June for a fresh start as the pub has had eight different managers in the past five years and is reputed to be haunted. One member of staff is Joanne Logan from Birmingham who has worked at the pub for four weeks and is in the process of moving to Landrake.

She said: "It's really nice here and there have been changes happening here even in the four weeks I've been here. More people have been coming to the pub as the reputation improves."

Anthony "Dumpy" Courts from Landrake has been coming to The Bullers Arms from more than 40 years. He said: "I've seen lots of landlords and managers come and go, some good, some bad, like everywhere. Leroy and Laura are nice people and have made changes for the better. They serve real ales here, very good food from what I've tasted when I've been here for lunch before and lovely pasties."

He also looks after his son Daniel's dog Jess who has a liking for beer mats.

Daniel works at Boating World with Gary Burdock. Gary said: "I come here lunchtimes on Fridays and evenings, especially at weekends as it's a good warm up before heading into town."

The pub is renowned for its euchre and pool teams and have won many trophies over the years. A beer raffle has been started for the run-up until Christmas.

Leroy explained: "Instead of having a meat raffle like many other pubs we decided to have a beer raffle as it's very popular and everyone needs beer for Christmas."

A pub quiz is held every other Tuesday and includes a "snowball" question. Every week Leroy and Laura put on an extra £10 on a difficult question. If answered, the person wins the amount of money that is riding on that question.

Another local Steve Nicks recently moved to the village with his wife Ida and their three children. He said: "They do good beer here, it's a nice, friendly place. We moved here from Tamerton Foliot and have found this to be a good village pub."

Laura explained they aim to restore the community aspect of the pub. She said: "The pub had lost its identity but we are really trying to turn it around. People who come here are guests in our home and we treat them as such. We have staff meetings once a month so everyone knows what's changing within the menus and the specials boards."

Committed

The Bullers Arms is one of the main meeting places in the village. Many local groups use the pub including Landrake YFC, the short mat bowls club, Landrake Players, the Millennium committee, the carnival committee and anyone else who needs a meeting place.

Leroy said: "Our biggest policy is if anyone walks in to the pub, we say hello, even if it's busy."

Leroy and Laura agree: "We like it here and we are committed to it. We have gone back to the basics of what a public house should be."